Surface-treating tools



Feb. 20, 1962 A. c. STRATFORD 3,021,550

SURFACE-TREATING TOOLS Filed May 9, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 9, 1960 INVENFDR ATTORNEY 3,021,550 SURFACE-TREATIN G TOOLS Alfred Cecil Stratford, St. Pauls Cray, Kent, England,

assignor to Cimex Limited, Orpington, Kent, England,

a British company Filed May 9, 1969, Ser. No. 27,553 (Ilaims priority, application Great Britain May 14, 1959 7 Claims. (Cl. 15-359) The present invention relates to surface-treating tools and is concerned in its most general aspect with a type of surface-treating tool which, when in use, is supported on the floor or other surface being treated partially by a carrying wheel or roller or a number of carrying wheels or rollers on a common axis enabling the tool to be moved over the surface and partially by a flexible, elongated treating element, such as a squeegee, having a lower edge engaging the surface being treated.

One example of this type of surface-treating tool is a wheeled vacuum drying machine for removing water from floors, in which a rubber squeegee blade, in the form of a strip with one of its long edges in contact with the floor, is employed to sweep water across the floor, the water accumulating at the edge of the blade being withdrawn by suction into a collecting tank forming part of the machine. The tank, which may constitute the main portion of the machine, is supported at the rear end by a pair of wheels rotatable about an axis generally parallel to the length of the squeegee blade and at the front end by the blade itself. A handle extends from the wheeled end of the tank and enables the operator not only to move the machine over the floor but also to vary the pressure on the squeegee blade by tilting the machine about the carrying wheels.

Such a machine, however, will only operate satisfactorily if moved in the backward direction by being drawn towards the operator with the wheels leading. If it is pushed forward it will tilt in such a way as to throw a large part of the weight on to the squeegee blade, thus forcing it against the floor and creating a large resistance to motion in this direction.

It is an obiect of the present invention to provide a surface-treating tool of the type specified which is capable of operating easily and satisfactorily whether moved forwards or backwards.

According to the invention there is provided a surfacetreating tool of the type specified in which the treating element is mounted on a supporting member which is yieldably connected to the body of the tool in such a manner as to be capable of deflection by frictional engagement of the lower edge of the treating element with the surface being treated during movement in both the forward and the backward direction, and a pair of spaced wheels or a roller is so mounted on the forward side of the said supporting member as to move into engagement with the surface being treated when the supporting member is deflected by movement of the tool in the forward direction.

By way of example one embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a general view of a vacuum drying machine for floors in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the squeegee assembly of the machine of FIG. 1 and its mounting;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the squeegee assembly;

FIG. 4 is a section on the line IV1V of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a section on the line VV of FIG. 2.

The machine shown in FIG. 1 resembles known machines in having a tank 1 forming the main body of the machine mounted on a pair of rear wheels, one of which is visible at 2. A squeegee assembly 3 is mounted at the front of the tank and comprises a suction channel leadice ing from the squeegee blade into the tank. Under a housing 4 on top of the tank 1 is mounted an electrically driven suction fan for applying suction to withdraw from the floor being dried the water accumulating at the squeegee blade. The air stream with entrained water passes a plurality of baiiies in the tank and the Water is deposited in the tank. A handle 5 mounted on the rear of the tank enables the machine to be moved over the floor by an operator and carries a control box =6 for the electricity supply to the suction fan.

in known machines the squeegee assembly 3 is rigidly attached to the tank 1, resulting in the disadvantages referred to above. in the present machine (see FIGS. 2 to 4) the squeegee blade 7 consists of two strips of rubber clamped face to face between a supporting casting 8 and a clamping casting 9 secured to the supporting casting 8 by means of bolts 10. The supporting casting 8 has two symmetrically-disposed upstanding hooked lugs 11 and 12 which are attached to the under side 13 of the tank 1 by means of respective flexible rubber mountings 14 and 15.

The supporting and clamping castings 8 and 9 are of similar form, being approximately mirror images of one another across the plane of the squeegee blade 7. Each has a straight lower edge beyond which the lower edge of the blade 7 projects and above this lower edge, which is spaced from the blade, forms a suction channel 16, 17 of triangular section extending along the length of the blade. The ends of the channels 16 and 17 are closed and at their centre communicate with a suction pipe 18. A flexible rubber and canvas hose 19 is clamped to the suction pipe 18 by a Jubilee clip 20. Thus the support and clamping casting 8 and 9 form a lishtail suction nozzle, through the slot of which the squeegee blade projects.

The tank 1 has a depending skirt 21 at its front end and a buffer strip 22 is fixed on the inside of the skirt 21 at its bottom edge. As the machine is moved rearwardly, towards the operator, the squeegee assembly is deflected by its contact with the floor and the whole assembly swings about the rubber mountings 14 and 15 until it comes into contact with the buffer 22, which limits its deflection.

The supporting casting 8 has two small rubber wheels 23 and 24 mounted by means of trunnions 25 and 26 on its front face. These wheels serve to support the squeegee assembly during forward movement of the machine. When the operator pushes the machine away from him he exerts a moment about the wheels 2 which tends to push down the front end of the tank 1. The squeegee assembly is deflected about the mountings l4 and 15 by contact of the squeegee blade 7 with the floor. In the absence of the wheels 23 and 24, continuance of this deflection would meet with increasing resistance from the squeegee blade but would tend to force the supporting casting down against the floor with a risk of damage to the floor. However, this deflection brings the wheels 23 and 24 into contact with the floor and thus provides fourpoint support for forward movement of the machine.

On deflection of the squeegee assembly as a Whole about the mountings 14 and 15 in either sense, the squeegee blade 7 itself, being flexible, is also deflected in the same sense until it comes into contact with the lower edge of either the supporting casting 8 or the clamping casting 9. This has the effect of closing one of the suction channels 16 and 17 and opening the one on the side of the blade at which water is being collected. To avoid any constriction of the suction passages due to the closure of one of the channels several holes 27 are formed in the upper part of the squeegee blade 7, within the suction nozzle, to allow communication between the suction channels 16 and 17.

It will be apparent that the wheels 23 and 24 could be 0 replaced by a single roller of sufiicient length or a plurality of such rollers.

Although the rearward of the two castings forming the squeegee assembly has been characterised as the clamping casting it serves to support the squeegee blade and may itself be flexibly mounted on the machine instead of, or as well as, the supporting casting. The flexible mounting may be achieved by means other than the rubber mounting described, for example by means of springs.

I claim:

1. A surface-treating tool having a body with front and rear ends, wheel means attached to the body to support the rear end of the body, a handle carried by said body whereby the body may be tilted about the axis of said wheel means to raise and lower the front end of said body, a flexible elongated treating element, a support member carrying the said treating element, yield-able mounting means attaching said support member to the front end of the body to depend therefrom, whereby the treating element supports the front end of the body While in use and by frictional engagement of the treating element with the surface the support member may swing about said mounting means in a forward or backward direetion, and roller means mounted on the forward side of said support member to move into engagement with the surface being treated as the support member swings backwards thereby to prevent direct engagement of the support member with the surface and allow movement of the tool in either direction while in use.

2. A tool as claimed in claim 1 in which the treating element is a squeegee blade.

3. A tool as claimed in claim 2 including a suction nozzle having an intake slot arranged adjacent the squeegee blade, a tank communicating with the suction nozzle, and means for applying suction to said nozzle to draw water from the blade into the tank.

4. A tool as claimed in claim 3 in which the squeegee blade projects through the nozzle slot.

5. A tool as claimed in claim 4 in which the mounting means consist of spaced flexible rubber mountings.

6. A tool as claimed in claim 1 including a stop to limit swinging of the support member in the forward direction.

7. A tool as claimed in claim 5 including a skirt depending from the front of the body and a stop mounted on the skirt to limit movement of the support member in the forward direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,553,034 Bridge May 15, 1951 2,635,276 Norris Apr. 21, 1953 2,671,915 Fraser et a1 Mar. 16, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 135,170 Switzerland Nov. 16, 1929 318,539 Italy June 14, 1934 794,042 Great Britain Apr. 30, 1958 

